Activity #5: Keep a pregnancy journal

Did you or do you keep a pregnancy journal? Unless you count this here blog, I did not. Geralyn Broder Murray created a diary with sweet illustrations and thought starters to help you remember the agony and — in dreams with Ryan Gosling — ecstasy of pregnancy.

Because those memories fade (which is why some of us go on to have more children), Geri shares her illustrations and some tips for remembering to remember the small moments.

Here are a few ways mamas-to-be can get the most out of their pregnancy journals:

– Carry the pregnancy journal in your purse – this way you can jot down a few notes very quickly while waiting at a doctor’s appointment/car wash/check-out line.

– Collect those little scraps of pregnancy memorabilia to attach inside the journal later – an ultrasound pic, a belly pic, a shower invite or kind note from a friend.

-Be candid. This journal is for you and you alone. Don’t be afraid to share what’s really happening with you and your baby; you don’t want to look back on simply a good pregnancy story – you want to look back on your pregnancy story.

I have a nine-year old and a six-year old. What that means is that I was pregnant FOREVER ago; before sleeping through the night and first steps and first bites and potty training and swim lessons and T-ball. It also means that what I remember of being pregnant – those precious months – are pretty much that my stomach was huge (both times!) and that I was by turns nauseous and ravenous.

I wish, truly wish, that I remembered so much more – more of what it felt like when the baby was moving, hiccupping, rib-tickling me, and what it was like to attach dreams to a little person who was still only theoretical and fully contained. I really think those nine months deserve to have a sweet little chronicle of their very own.